Motives, or Lack Thereof
by openwidesay-ah
Summary: As far as Darcy's concerned, everyone needs a friend. Even when that person's the Norse trickster god... Slight Loki/Darcy.
1. unlikely alliance

Even at the best of times, Loki did not enjoy being disturbed from his thoughts.

Much less by strange smelling brown liquids being thrust under his nose.

His green eyes snapped up to meet blue, peering out from behind dark rimmed glasses. Darcy.

"What in Odin's name-"

"It's coffee. You drink it. And by all means please do, you look like you're about to die. Or do you just always look like that?"

Rolling his eyes, he reluctantly took the cup and, sniffing it suspiciously, wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I'm quite all right, thank you."

Shrugging, Darcy sat down beside him and took a swig of the drink. Loki frowned, but said nothing.

After a few moments of silence, he muttered, "I'm... I can't understand why you are doing this."

"Doing what, Loki?" Huh. It was the first time in long time that someone had said his name without fear or loathing behind it. It was strange, and not entirely unpleasant.

"Being nice to me! Bringing me... _coffee_, just wanting to be around me at all. There must be some reason why." His eyes bored into her own, as if they could show him the inner workings of this strange girl.

Darcy laughed, catching him off guard. "This may come as a bit of a surprise to you, but not everything is done with ulterior motives. I just thought... well, everybody needs a friend, don't they? Even crazy evil assholes like you." Oh. Loki wasn't sure if he should be offended or not.

Her smiled softened. "_Especially_ crazy evil assholes like you," she amended.

Hm. That was better. Sort of.

"And between you and me..." she leant forward, smirking, "I kind of dig the accent."

Loki blinked. Giggling, she got up and left him to his thoughts again.

_~#~_

When she was gone, Loki stared at the cup of coffee, by now a little cold.

Slowly, he lifted it to his lips. Perhaps not the greatest idea he'd ever had.

Coughing, he dropped the offending beverage to the ground. "Ugh. Revolting."

But in spite of himself, he smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>I don't really know why I wrote this but I love Darcy and I <em>LOVE <em>Loki (and together they make a pretty cute, if cracky, pairing, not gonna lie) and there is no way this would like, _ever_ happen anyway but I felt like writing something quick and can you tell this took like 20 minutes? Probably. Oh well.**  
><strong>I promise I'll go work on longer, better fics now... -hangs head-<strong>


	2. welcome distraction

Tapping away diligently at her keyboard, Darcy was lost in the work Jane had given her to do (which was mostly to keep her busy and out of trouble).

So she didn't notice him suddenly appear next to her.

Well, not until he set a mug down beside her, the sharp clink of porcelain on hardwood causing her to jump and bang her knee on the table.

"_Jesus Chr_- Loki?"

"Forgive me, I did not mean to frighten you." His tone was sincere, but his eyes were dancing with mirth.

Darcy rubbed her knee, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, totally believable..." She gave the mug a discerning look. It looked like... soup.

"It isn't poisoned, is it?"

For a fraction of a second Loki allowed himself to smirk, then composed his face into it's best "what-are-you-implying-I-am-totally-innocent" expression. "Why ever would you think that it would be?"

She pursed her lips, tilting her head in mock contemplation. "Well, I don't know, maybe because it's being given to me by the Norse god of mischief, who happens to be a known enemy of Earth, and, oh yeah, _you're an evil psychopath_." In spite of her words, Darcy picked up the mug and, almost as if she was mirroring his actions from the other day, sniffed it cautiously. It didn't _smell_ poisoned, anyway.

"Sticks and stones, Ms. Lewis," Loki deadpanned. He paused, looking strangely uncertain. "I thought you said you were my, ah, friend?"

Darcy smiled inwardly. She didn't think he would even have remembered that. "That's kind of what friends do sometimes. Call each other names."

Loki frowned, sliding into the seat next to her. "That seems a very odd thing to do... you weak, puny mortals can be rather perplexing at times." He looked pleased with himself, and Darcy sighed.

"Yeah, you seem to be getting the hang of it." Deciding she could probably trust him (hopefully), she tasted the soup. "Huh. This is really good. Did you make this all by yourself?" she teased, grinning.

Loki straightened up indignantly. "As a matter of fact, I did. I'm glad you like it."

Darcy nodded, filing away that interesting piece of information for later; _Loki can cook_.

After a few moments, she began to ask, "But why-"

"I was merely returning a favour," Loki answered abruptly, almost as if he had known she was going to ask. "I do not like to be in anyone's debt, especially that of a lady."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so I'm a lady now, am I?"

Loki's eyes swept briefly over her decidedly very _un_ladylike appearance. "Hm, well, in physical terms, maybe..."

Darcy could feel her cheeks heating up, and she cursed the trickster's beguiling manner of speech, and his stupid staring eyes that were actually a really pretty shade of green she had never noticed before...

Loki looked away, jolting her out of her thoughts.

"Well, enjoy, Ms. Lewis. I shall leave you to your work now."

Before he could stand up (or move at all for that matter), Darcy swiftly closed the distance between them and pecked him on the cheek.

"Thanks, Loki. Really." She gripped the mug tight, trying her hardest not to blush, and partially succeeding.

His eyes grew wide for a second, but eventually he smiled, genuinely _smiled_, as he leant in towards her.

"Any time, my friend."

And with a wink he disappeared, leaving Darcy grinning at a Word document she knew she wouldn't be finishing any time soon.

_~#~_

* * *

><p><strong>HAHA I LIED. Instead of working on my better and longer fics, I did this.<br>****NO REGRETS JUST LOKI/DARCY FLUFF  
><strong>**(and hey it was my birthday yesterday yaaay~)**


	3. series of unfortunate events

It was safe to say that Darcy had had a _horrible_ day.

Actually, horrible didn't even _begin_ to cover it.

_~#~_

It had all started when she was awoken at 3:30 AM by her cell phone alarm. Groggily fumbling around in the dark, Darcy cursed her inability to remember to reset the time after she needed to get up super early to do assignments she had been way too tired to do the night before.

Although now awake at a decent hour, Darcy's next bout of bad luck came in the form of burning herself on her straighteners, which was odd (and just plain ironic) because, well, she usually never used straighteners. Ever. Why she even owned them was a complete mystery.

_That's the last time I try to make an effort_, she thought darkly as she poured herself a glass of orange.

Which, of course, splashed all over her brand new shirt. Darcy just managed to suppress a small scream.

Already she could sense the beginnings of a crappy, _crappy_ day ahead. And she wasn't wrong.

_~#~_

It was now 6 PM, and Darcy was on the war path.

Her day really hadn't got very much better since the morning, but the very worse moment, the metaphorical cherry on the cake of _shit_ that was her day, concerned her precious baby.

Her iPod.

She burst through the door of her apartment, shaking her jacket to the floor, banging her bag to the table, and muttering aloud, "I can't even _believe_ this... ugh... stupid Agent Coulson... stepping on _my_ iPod... goddamn jerkass piece of... _ugh.._.." (Darcy had long since stopped caring about her coherency, around about lunch time that day when she had slipped and fallen down a flight of stairs on her ass.)

She had already lost an iPod to S.H.I.E.L.D once, and that was bad enough.

Now, the murderous intent in her eyes would quell even the bravest man. (Or maybe even a god.)

Darcy stormed into her room and, after slamming the door with enough force to dislodge a few books from their places on her shelf, was just about ready to launch herself onto the bed and mope about her iPod and her terrible day in general, when she noticed the box.

It was lying neatly on top of her pillow, wrapped in plain grey material. Darcy tilted her head, taking in its size and shape.

She told herself she had no idea what it was or who might have put it there, but the butterflies in her stomach gave her away.

Her anger now ebbing slowly away, Darcy hovered cautiously over the box. _Oh, what the hell. It's not like today can get any worse._

Tearing back the paper as gently as she could, Darcy couldn't stop the grin that leapt to her face.

It was her iPod, as shiny and not-broken as new.

Before she could turn it on, the small device glowed to life and began playing a song, and Darcy laughed for the first time that day.

_:_

_The Trickster  
><em>_**-**  
><em>_Radiohead  
><em>_**-**  
><em>_My Iron Lung EP_

_:_

Darcy closed her eyes, her mind following the lyrics of the song, the grin not once leaving her face.

"Thanks, Loki."

_~#~_

* * *

><p><strong>hi hey hello my friends! I bring you this short little nugget of LokiDarcy-ness! Haha! This one is mostly Darcy-centric (poor darling) but the next one will focus more on Loki, probably. Equality!  
><strong>**ugh I just love Radiohead okay and The Trickster is a wonderful song, I just couldn't stop myself from including it c:**

**(nb: i just recently started my new high school so i probably won't be updating as regularly, same goes for posting new fics, but i will try my best! thank you for all the reviews/alerts/lovin' :3)**


	4. positive influence

Upon encountering Loki, most people will feel two things;

Awe (and the slight notion that they are being made a fool of, but can't seem to place why);

and fear.

They will try to hide it with their words, their body language, their thoughts, but he knows it's there. He's been sensing it off people for so long it's become second nature.

**. . .**

But Darcy. Well. Darcy is _different_.

She's never been afraid of him.

Okay, so she may have been slightly terrified when she though she was going to be killed by the Destroyer, but she has never felt uneasy around _him_, as a person- god, whatever. She recognizes his power, but is not intimidated by it.

Loki is perplexed, but deep down he knows this is not a bad thing. Not at all.

**. . .**

He is not a good person, of this he is sure. He strikes fear into people's hearts. He is a monster.

But around Darcy he feels _good._

**. . .**

He is still the Trickster, of course, that's a part of him he can't, and doesn't want to change. But he feels no compellence to do evil when he's with her, and for that he is thankful.

.

.

* * *

><p><strong>Wooooow ok hi. Long time no write, huh? You missed me, you know you did.<strong>

**welp this is pretty much just Loki reflecting on Darcy and how awesome she is, basically c:**

**ALSO: since I'm off on Halloween break for a week, there will be new chapters, possibly even new fics coming soon :3 hoorah!**

**AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! :3**


	5. read you like a book

_Click._

Darcy huffed a sigh as the door closed behind her, signalling the beginning of the end of the day, which was the best time of day, as far as she was concerned.

Plus, it was a Friday! And she was pretty sure the History Channel was showing reruns of Pawn Stars, _sweet, _and -

Stopping in her tracks, Darcy's eyes swept the room. _There's something wrong with this picture._

Everything was normal, the apartment was in the same crappy condition she had left it in that morning, except... there was Loki, his nose buried deep in a large, leather bound book.

_Seriously._

Darcy probably should have been surprised, perhaps even a little disturbed, to find, upon entering her apartment, a god sprawled across her sofa. This one _particular_ god, in fact.

But honestly, she was pretty much prepared for _anything_ these days. (Which, in itself, was pretty effing worrying.)

Kicking her shoes into a corner, the clatter of boots on wood made Loki glance up, briefly, only to be absorbed back into whatever the hell he was reading.

Which happened to be (Darcy peered at the title);

**_NORSE MYTHOLOGY_**

She snorted. "Dude, I'm pretty sure you could _write_ that book if you wanted. Why are you reading it?"

"It's interesting to see how you humans perceive us gods." He smirked. "Especially me."

"Narcissist."

Loki glared at her, flipping the page. "Really, though, some of the nonsense in this book... did you know they thought I gave birth to a horse? That's just... wrong."

"I wouldn't put it past you."

"Ouch, Ms. Lewis. Your words could _harm_ someone a lot more delicate than I."

Darcy rolled her eyes and, sliding down onto the sofa beside him, she folded her legs underneath her and curled up like a cat, breathing out a weary sigh. She had been going to ask _why_ in the hell he was in her apartment anyway, but decided against it. He'd probably take offence and leave, and Darcy didn't really want that to happen, strangely enough.

Settling her head against his arm, Darcy noticed him a small flinch run through him, and she smirked inwardly. _Well, if he's going to keep randomly showing up in my house, he's __going to have to get used to this sort of thing._

Loki continued calmly turning the pages of the book, although his mind was now in a state of utter confusion.

Why was she lying on him? Should he tell her to get off? No, that would be rude – but since when did Loki care if he was being rude? And after all, it was her house, and -

"Read to me."

Darcy's voice halted Loki's distracted train of thought. "Pardon?"

She grinned. "At least make yourself useful while you're here."

Loki blinked once, twice, then sighed. "_Fine._ What -"

"Tell me about you. Or something else, I don't really mind. But I'd like to hear about you. I guess."

He had to hand it to her, she really knew how to play her cards right.

So he read to her. All the myths and legends that surrounded him, stories of his brother and sisters, events that he vaguely remembers the details of, but which have been warped and twisted almost to the brink of recognition but human imagination.

It's almost unsettling for him, but Darcy had started to drift off and all in all it _was _very interesting, so he read and read until he felt her warm breath tickling his neck and he was sure she was asleep.

Loki was never one for dwelling on his actions too much, but right now there was a steady stream of _will I won't I? _going on internally, and something (apparently the _won't I?_ side), had to give.

A fleeting kiss was placed on her temple, and in the blink of an eye he was gone, off to attend some business of vastly more import than this. _(But what?)_

Well, there had to be _something_.

* * *

><p>Darcy awoke to find her apartment freezing and Lokiless, and the time to be ridiculously early in the morning.<p>

The book was still there, open to the page the very god himself had been reading aloud earlier, the pages concerning himself.

Laughing groggily, she scooped up the tome and shuffled off in the direction of her bed, where she would hopefully get some decent rest, without being plagued by stupid dreams about stupid Tricksters and their stupid nice accents and stupid, stupid pretty green eyes.

_Ugh_.

_._

_.._

_..._

* * *

><p><strong>Guess who's back, back again!<br>****Yeah. Hi. Sorry for the long time no update thing, school's been super freaking busy recently and honestly I've had like little-to-no motivation to write :c but it's winter break and I have returned, and I bring with me this sort of late Christmas present I guess...? LoVe Me :o)**

**In case you hadn't already noticed, this story has like no plot, it's just kind of random semi-unrelated oneshots. ok. derp.**

**OH OH and I got my mum to read Thor: The Trials of Loki. Actually, I didn't even tell her to, she just picked it up and started reading it all by herself. /proud  
>(she actually kind of likes him now... success!)<strong>

**In relation to updates, I can't make any promises but POSSIBLE new chapters/fics coming soon (I know I said that last time shush ok I suck ;_;)**

**Thanks for all the reviews/alerts/faves, you guys rock *marries you all* **


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